Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Sunday, was walked out of the premises of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, DIG Frank Mba.
Governor Godwin Obaseki was escorted out of the INEC collation center in Edo State at around 4:10 AM, after arriving unannounced at 2 AM to protest anomalies in the collation of results, particularly in his Oredo local government area.
Obaseki was informed that his presence was unnecessary, and a combined team of police officers, led by DIG Mba, along with Nigerian Army personnel, later escorted him from the premises.
Before Obaseki was led out, the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretary, Surajudeen Basiru, told reporters that the governor had no reason to be there, as he was not a candidate, calling it an abuse of office.
Earlier, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Asue Ighodalo had also been sent away.
Around 3:30 AM, APC members, including the running mate of Senator Monday Okpebholo, Honourable Dennis Idahosa, led protesters to demand Obaseki’s exit from the collation center.
Meanwhile, the PDP accused the APC of pressuring INEC and the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Anugbum Onuoha, to suspend the collation process to manipulate the INEC Portal and alter the election results in favor of the APC.
In a statement, PDP spokesman Debo Ologunagba urged INEC to resist such pressure and protect the integrity of the results as recorded at the polling units.
INEC responded by acknowledging reports of alleged incorrect figures entered into result sheets. The commission vowed to investigate the matter, noting that this was the second such complaint from the 4,519 polling units involved in the election.
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